Neville Goddard on Genesis 34:18-24 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Genesis 34 in context

Scripture Focus

18And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor's son.

19And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father.

20And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying,

21These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.

22Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised.

23Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.

24And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.

Genesis 34:18-24

Biblical Context

Hamor and Shechem persuade the men of the city to become one people by demanding circumcision, promising shared land and marriage with Jacob's kin; the men consent and are circumcised.

Neville's Inner Vision

From the Neville perspective, the city at the gate stands for your present belief system—the shared stories by which you define yourself and your world. The 'land' and 'cattle' signify the riches of your inner life that you would possess by acquiescing to a new pattern of thought, a union formed not by truth but by a clever consent. When Hamor and Shechem speak, they are not tempting a neighbor so much as awakening a familiar impulse within you to merge by a ritual of belonging—circumcision becomes a metaphor for cutting away fear and separation so that you may call others 'one people' with you. The key is to see that the urge to join is not evil in itself but a projection of the ego seeking security through sameness. The healing reading is to choose unity first in consciousness: see your neighbor as another aspect of your own I AM, to revise beliefs of separation, and to feel the oneness as already real. Then the outward event simply enacts a harmonious inner state.

Practice This Now

Imaginative Act: Sit quietly and imagine the other as a mirror of your own I AM; confidently say, 'We are one,' and feel that unity filling your chest, then carry this assumption into your daily life.